Watch the first episode: What Makes or Breaks Games from UX Perspective – Game UX Alchemists.
In Antidote’s first-ever podcast episode, our UX researchers Joan, Lucy and Vicky had a great conversation about a big topic:
What Makes or Breaks a Game from a UX Perspective
From the biggest UX mistakes studios make to real-world fixes that improve games, the panelists covered a lot of ground. Below, you’ll find the key highlights from the discussion.
Enjoy the read 😊
What Does UX Actually Improve in Games?
When people think of UX in games, they often picture menus, UI or button layouts.
But UX is so much more than that. It’s about how a game feels, how smoothly players navigate it and what keeps them engaged.
Lucy made a great point about this, saying:
“It’s about offering the player a great experience – not just pressing buttons, but actually enjoying the game.”
A game with good UX guides the player naturally, without unnecessary friction.
The moment someone picks up a controller or starts clicking around, everything should just make sense:
➡️ The mechanics should feel responsive
➡️ The objectives should be clear
➡️ The game should provide just enough challenge to keep players engaged without frustrating them.
In short, a well-designed UX can be the difference between a player getting hooked or giving up.
The Biggest UX Mistakes That Hurt Player Engagement
Of course, not every game gets UX right.
What’s scary is that some common mistakes push players away before they even get a chance to enjoy the game.
One of the biggest pitfalls we’ve seen is developers design for themselves instead of their target players.
It’s easy to assume that just because something makes sense to the dev team, it’ll make sense to everyone else. But players don’t have insider knowledge of how the game was built.
If things aren’t clear, they’ll get frustrated.
Onboarding is another big issue. Some games overwhelm players with too much information upfront, making it feel like they’re sitting through a lecture.
Others throw them into the deep end with no guidance at all, leaving them lost and confused.
Neither approach works well.
The big mistake is also a less obvious one: leaving all the user research and playtesting operations until the very end.
Joan summed it up perfectly when she said:
“Okay, I have the game 90% done. Let’s do some quick playtests. Let’s see what we can polish and that’s all. And then you will see that the game is not enjoyable.”
When studios delay testing until the last minute, they’re left scrambling to fix major issues when it’s often too late to make meaningful changes.
Creating a great UX isn’t something you slap on at the end – it needs to be built into the game from the start.
How to Avoid These Mistakes
The best games don’t happen by accident. They happen because teams test, learn and refine over and over again.
And how do they do it? Playtesting. Lots of it.
However, many studios make the mistake of relying solely on internal testing or getting feedback from friends and family. But let’s be real – your coworkers and your best friend aren’t going to give you the same insights as a real player who has no attachment to the game.
If you want honest feedback, you need to test with actual players from your target audience.
There are also different types of playtesting, depending on what stage a game is in. The panel broke it down with some examples:
➡️ First-time user experience (FTUE) testing helps ensure that new players can pick up the game without frustration.
➡️ Mechanics testing focuses on whether things like movement and combat feel right.
➡️ Full playthrough tests give insight into whether the game effectively guides players through its world or if they’re getting lost along the way.
But the message is still the same. The earlier you start testing, the more time you have to fix issues before they become major problems.
As Vicky pointed out:
“The game doesn’t need to be completely finished to be tested. You can start from the beginning and start testing it with players to see if you’re going on the right track.”
Real UX Fixes That Made a Difference
The team shared some great examples of how small UX changes made a massive impact on a game’s overall experience:
1️⃣ One studio realized through testing that their boss fights were completely unbalanced – some were way too easy, while others felt impossible to beat. Playtesting helped them tweak the difficulty so that boss encounters felt fair but still challenging.
2️⃣ Another issue came from unclear platforming mechanics. Players struggled with jumps because the visual cues weren’t distinct enough from the environment. Something as simple as adjusting lighting and colors to make jumpable surfaces stand out completely changed the experience.
3️⃣ And then there’s the classic issue of gameplay loops feeling repetitive. Sometimes, a game’s mechanics are solid, but players start losing interest because there’s not enough variety. In one playtest, feedback led to the addition of new enemy types and environmental changes, making levels feel fresh and engaging.
Small UX changes can have a huge impact on players’ feelings about a game.
Final Thoughts
Hearing the perspectives and experiences of Joan, Lucy, and Vicky was a great reminder for everyone in the industry.
A game can have the best graphics and the most exciting concept, but if it doesn’t feel good to play, players won’t stick around.
In summary:
➡️ Bad UX leads to player frustration, bad reviews, and low retention.
➡️ Good UX makes games intuitive, enjoyable, and worth playing.
➡️ The best way to get UX right? Playtest early, playtest often and listen to your players’ feedback
That wraps up our first-ever podcast episode, but we’re just getting started!
Stay tuned for more episodes where we’ll dive deeper into playtesting, user research and everything that makes games better.
